On returning to New York Motherwell creates a series of bold and dramatic new works that reflect his recent personal trauma and his ongoing interest in political themes, including Pancho Villa, Dead and Alive (C7), Personage (Autoportrait) (C8), Personage (P11), and The Spanish Prison (Window) (P12).

Motherwell and the booksellers George Wittenborn and Heinz Schultz conceive of a series of affordable, paperback editions of writings by modern artists. Wittenborn and Schultz ask Motherwell to edit the series, which they name the Documents of Modern Art.

Motherwell begins working at Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17 in New York, where he will create two burin engravings, his last prints before the 1960s.